


Hold Me

by lonelybrokensouls



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Cuddles, Established Relationship, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Protective Bruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 19:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2037000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelybrokensouls/pseuds/lonelybrokensouls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tony wakes from a particularly nasty nightmare to find that Bruce isn't there next to him, he panics. But Bruce isn't far away and reassures Tony that, no matter what, he'll always be there to keep him safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold Me

_The cave was damp and dark. Whichever direction Tony ran ended up as a dead end. They were coming. They were behind him. He couldn't get away. He was going to die. Every breath hurt his chest, every step sent a jolt of pain up through his body. He wasn't going to make it. He couldn't get away. He was going to die. The sound of footsteps was_ _growing closer and there was nowhere left to run. Nowhere to hide. Tony's heart was hammering in his chest, his breaths were short and each one was forced. The fear was real._

_Crash._

_Bang._

_Gunshot._

_Voices were echoing in the caves. They were coming. They were getting closer. There was no escape. His hands grabbed uselessly at the cave walls in front of him, scrabbling for some way out. But there was no way out. He was going to die._

_Commands were shouted in a language Tony didn't understand. Commands to kill. To leave him dead. He turned away from the cave wall and found himself face to face with a group of armed men. They'd come to kill him. He couldn't get away. He was going to die._

_One marched forwards towards him and kicked him hard in the stomach. He fell to the floor. He couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in. The guns were pointing at him. Ready to shoot. Ready to kill. Voices filled his head. His fathers voice._

_"This is what you get, Anthony, you deserve this. You deserve all of it."_

_With a strangled cry Tony covered his ears in a futile attempt to stop the voices. To stop the memories. But he couldn't. He was a failure. He couldn't get away. He was going to die._

_"You never did do as you were told. Always had to have the last say. Always pushed me too far. It's your fault Anthony. All of it."_

_He could feel the guns pressing into his body. His chest; his arms; his back; his head; his neck. They were everywhere. Ready to shoot. Ready to kill._

_He screamed._

Tony woke with a start; he was breathing hard and sweating. The sheets were tangled around his ankles and his pillow was on the floor. A quick glance across at the alarm clock on his bedside table told him that it was half four in the morning. Heart still hammering in his chest Tony immediately reached to his left for Bruce. He hated waking Bruce after having had a nightmare but he needed the comfort of his boyfriend. However his hands met empty sheets. Bruce wasn't there.

His stomach was twisting itself into knots. Bruce was gone. Bruce was his anchor. He kept him sane, kept him safe. Starting to panic now, Tony pulled himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. What if he'd gone? What if he'd run away because he'd realised that he didn't love Tony and never had? What if he never came back? Thoughts swirled round in Tony's brain until he couldn't take it anymore. His hands grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled until the physical pain made him refocus on his surroundings. He felt sick. Dread coarsed through his veins. Bruce was the only one he'd been able to open up to about his nightmares. Pepper had had some idea but he'd never been as open with her as he had been with Bruce. The only person he needed was gone.

"JARVIS," his voice was raspy which affirmed his fear that he'd been shouting out in his sleep

"Yes, Sir?" The Al replied, somehow managing to sound concerned.

Tony swallowed thickly, taking three deep breaths before replying, "Where's Bruce?"

"Mr Banner is in the lounge, Sir. He has been there for four hours and thirty nine minutes as he couldn't sleep. He requested that I didn't wake you."

Tony let out a shaky sigh of relief and ran his hands through his hair before stumbling up onto his feet. He pulled on a pair of Bruce's flannel pyjama pants over his boxers and walked across their room to the door. Luckily it was too early for anyone else to be awake so no one would witness Tony trudging through the house like a scared child. If someone else saw him in this state Tony was almost certain he'd never live it down.

When he approached the lounge Tony could see the light of the TV at the opposite end of the room. On the sofa he was able to make out Bruce's figure in the darkness and for a moment he worried that he was asleep. But then he heard the rustling of paper. Trust Bruce to be reading when there was an 80" plasma TV blaring on the wall in front of him.

"Bruce?" Tony called, quiet enough so no one else would hear if they were nearby but loud enough for Bruce's well trained hearing to pick up

"Tony?" Bruce replied in the same tone, looking up from his book with a frown, "I told JARVIS not to wake- hey, what's wrong?"

Tony was shaking where he stood, tears brimming in his eyes that he refused to let fall because he was not a child god dammit. Bruce set his book down and walked quickly over to him, concern written all over his face.

"Tony what happened, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Bruce spoke gently, taking one of Tony's hands in his and slowly leading him over to the sofa where they sat down cross legged opposite each other

"I had a nightmare," Tony's voice was so small and childlike that it made him flinch, he hated sounding so vulnerable no matter who it was in front of, "And...when I woke up and you weren't there...I thought...I thought that you'd gone."

"Oh Tony," Bruce whispered, wrapping his arms around Tony tight, "I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry I never should have left you on your own."

Tony clung to Bruce, hiding his face in the crook of his neck hoping to hide the fact that he was indeed now crying. One of Bruce's hands ran up and down Tony's back while the other gently stroked his hair. After a few moments Tony's breathing calmed down enough and he managed to stop crying but he didn't loosen his hold.

"I was so scared." he admitted quietly, fingers clenched around the fabric of Bruce's T-Shirt unwilling to let go in case he disappeared.

"Do you want to talk about it? It's fine if you don't," Bruce murmured, still stroking Tony's back and hair which he did every time the engineer had a nightmare.

Tony leaned back a little so that he could look at Bruce's face, not letting go of him, and sucked in a deep breath, "I was in the caves. There was no way out and they were right behind me and then the guns were jabbing into me, all over me, it's like I could actually feet it. Then there was his voice, my dad's voice, in my head telling me I deserved it and that it was my fault and then I screamed and I woke up."

Bruce listened calmly, waiting for Tony to finish before speaking. Once he'd recounted the dream, he moved both of his hands to Tony's cheeks moving his head so that they were looking into each other's eyes, "Tony I want you to listen to me, okay?" Tony nodded, "None of it is your fault. You are never going back there and I swear to you that I will keep you safe, you're a good man Tony, and I love you very much. I'm so sorry you went through that baby, I really am, I should have been there to wake you up then you wouldn't have thought...I promise I'll always be there from now on."

Tony smiled at the term of endearment, one that Bruce rarely used because he hated it but knew that Tony loved it, and lifted one of his hands to rest over Bruce's on his cheek. Bruce's thumbs gently caressed his cheeks, wiping away the stray tears and smiling at him.

"Do you want to go back to bed or do you want to watch TV? We can do whatever you want," Bruce said softly, "We don't have to do anything today if you don't want to."

"Can you just...hold me? Here I mean, I don't want to go back to bed," Tony knew his request was immature but right now he didn't care and knew Bruce wouldn't either.

Bruce smiled and nodded, moving so that he was leaning back against the cushions of the sofa then patting the space between his legs. Tony ran his hands over his face quickly then settled back againt his boyfriend's chest, smiling when strong arms wrapped around his torso.

"I love you, Brucie-bear," Tony grinned, resting his hands on top of Bruce's and snuggling back against him.

Bruce chuckled and rolled his eyes and the stupid nickname and squeezed Tony tighter, "I love you too, baby."

They lay like that for a while until Tony finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Bruce remained awake a while longer to make sure that Tony's dreams didn't fall back into the nightmare he'd had earlier, then let himself drift off after pressing a soft kiss to the back of Tony's head.

*

When Natasha passed through the lounge at half five that morning, she didn't give a second glance to the two geniuses sleeping in each other's arms on the sofa. She simply carried on to the kitchen, poured herself a cup of coffee and walked out again hesitating by the door.

"JARVIS make sure no one disturbs them for the rest of the day, please,"

"Of course, Miss Romanov."

"And dim the lights, thanks."

With one last look at the couple, she smiled to herself and walked out. And if Clint had been seen the whole thing from the rafters...well, he never mentioned it to anyone.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm meant to be doing pre-course work for sixth form but instead I've written a rather angsty lil' science boyfriends fic. Oh well! I've never written this pairing before so I hope it's alright x


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